Editorial: Secretary of state race carries urgency

Friday

Oct 26, 2018 at 8:33 PM

The winner of one statewide post on the general election ballot faces an immediate call to action upon taking office early next year.

No, it’s not Georgia’s next governor.

The newly elected secretary of state must address Georgia’s flawed voting infrastructure post haste. As this election cycle has shown, an overhaul is needed, starting with our outdated voting machines but extending to management and regulations involving voter registration, voter rolls, and precinct locations.

Much of that work, which requires input and action from the Georgia General Assembly and the governor, needs to be done ahead of the November 2019 election. The improvements must be fully implemented before the 2020 cycle, during which the election ballots will be topped by candidates for U.S. president and one of Georgia’s two U.S. Senate posts.

Fortunately, Georgians will choose between two candidates who grasp the sense of urgency surrounding the secretary of state’s position. Even better, both John Barrow and Brad Raffensperger have visions for modernizing the election system, as well as the post’s other key duties, specifically business registrations and professional licensing.

The role of Georgia’s secretary of state centers on these nuts-and-bolts, block-and-tackle duties. Unlike the holder of the office of the same name at the federal level — currently Mike Pompeo — Georgia’s secretary of state is not tasked with diplomatic relations. He, in Barrow’s or Raffensperger’s case, won’t be negotiating treaties or trade deals or advising the governor on other states' affairs.

The next secretary of state will need to be a statesman, though, one who can work in a bipartisan — even nonpartisan — manner with the legislature and governor on the election system update. He will also need to be as reliable as Maytag, someone who instills absolute trust in Georgians about the security and fairness of future votes.

Barrow is that candidate.

Task-heavy role

Savannahians will recognize Barrow from his days representing the state’s 12th Congressional District, which from 2007 to 2012 included much of Chatham County and all of Effingham County. The district boundaries were redrawn following the 2010 census, placing all of Chatham and most of Effingham in the 1st District.

Barrow lost his U.S. House seat in 2014 and has spent the time since teaching in the University of Georgia School of Public and International Affairs. He sees the secretary of state’s post as task-related rather than one where the office holder works to create, refine and advance policies.

“You are doing something tangible, whether it’s overseeing the election system, registering businesses or issuing professional licenses,” Barrow recently told the editorial board. “There’s an accountability to the job that’s just different than other elected posts.”

The process-oriented nature of the job is what makes Barrow’s opponent, Raffensperger, an intriguing candidate. A structural engineer by training and a small business owner who has worked across the state, he holds two professional licenses himself and employs approximately 200 Georgians.

Raffensperger’s political experience includes three years in the Georgia House of Representatives and four years on the Johns Creek City Council.

A thorough, comprehensive approach

What sets Barrow apart from Raffensperger is the former congressman’s nonpartisan approach and comprehensive outlook for the secretary of state’s office, starting with the election system overhaul.

Barrow is a Democrat who believes the state’s voter photo ID mandate is the “coin of the realm” and that voters “must be able to prove who you are, some way.” He wants to make the voter rolls “highly reliable” by leveraging information Georgians provide to the U.S. Postal Service and the state’s motor vehicle division to verify registration data.

As for the act of voting itself, Barrow favors implementing an old-school system — paper ballots tallied via optical scanners — as a stopgap while state officials evaluate other solutions by looking at best practices and customer satisfaction from other states.

The current secretary of state, gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp, has established a commission that is evaluating and testing several electronic voting systems. Raffensperger has said he would carry on that work if elected.

Barrow, though, has misgivings about that approach, fearing that Georgians will end up with “more expensive versions of something that doesn’t work.”

The next secretary of state faces daunting and urgent challenges. We encourage voters to cast their ballots for Barrow, a man up to that task.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.